Preparation

Opening response

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation,to you be praise and glory forever.As once you ransomed your people from Egyptand led them to freedom in the promised land,so now you have delivered us from the dominion of darknessand brought us into the kingdom of your risen Son.May we, the first fruits of your new creation,rejoice in this new day you have made,and praise you for your mighty acts.Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.Blessed be God forever.

According to thy word;Now be thy grace revealed;And with the knowledge of the Lord,Let all the earth be filled.

Confession of sin

When we cry out to the Lord in our distress,he will save us from our desperate circumstances.

God will bring us out of darknessand out of the shadow of death.

Lord, have mercy.Christ, have mercy.Lord, have mercy.

A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.

May the Father forgive usby the death of his Sonand strengthen usto live in the power of the Spiritall our days.Amen.

Let us thank the Lord for his faithful love,and his wondrous works for all people.

Let us offer thanksgiving sacrificesand declare what God has done in songs of joy.

cf Psalm 107

The Word of God

Psalm 135

Refrain:Praise the Lord, because the Lord is good!

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord’s name! All you who serve the Lord, praise God!All you who stand in the Lord’s house— who stand in the courtyards of our God’s temple— praise the Lord, because the Lord is good! Sing praises to God’s name because it is beautiful!Because the Lord chose Jacob as his own, God chose Israel as his treasured possession.

Yes, I know for certain that the Lord is great— I know our Lord is greater than all other gods.The Lord can do whatever he wants in heaven or on earth, in the seas and in every ocean depth.God forms clouds at the far corners of the earth. God makes lightning for the rain. God releases the wind from its storeroom. God struck down the Egyptians’ oldest offspring— both human and animal!God sent signs and wonders into the very center of Egypt— against Pharaoh and all his servants.God struck down many nations and killed mighty kings:Sihon the Amorite king, Og the king of Bashan, and all the Canaanite kings.Then God handed their land over as an inheritance— as an inheritance to Israel, his own people.

Lord, your name is forever! Lord, your fame extends from one generation to the next!The Lord gives justice to his people and has compassion on those who serve him.

The nations’ idols are just silver and gold— things made by human hands.They have mouths, but they can’t speak. They have eyes, but they can’t see.They have ears, but they can’t listen. No, there’s no breath in their lungs!Let the people who made these idols and all who trust in them become just like them!

House of Israel, bless the Lord! House of Aaron, bless the Lord! House of Levi, bless the Lord! You who honor the Lord, bless the Lord!Bless the Lord from Zion— bless the one who lives in Jerusalem!

Praise the Lord!

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:Praise the Lord, because the Lord is good!

Psalm prayer

Wise and gracious God,save us from the idols of our heartsand keep us in your living presence,that we may become a people for your praisein Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament readingExodus 33

The Lord said to Moses, “Go and leave this place, you and the people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt. Go to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I’ll give it to your descendants.’ I’ll send a messenger before you. I’ll drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go to this land full of milk and honey. But I won’t go up with you because I would end up destroying you along the way since you are a stubborn people.”

When the people heard the bad news, they were sorry. No one put on any jewelry, because the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stubborn people. If I were to go up with you even for a single moment, I would destroy you. So now take off your jewelry, while I figure out what to do with you.’” So after leaving Mount Horeb the Israelites rid themselves of their jewelry.

Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, far away from the camp. He called it the meeting tent. Everyone who wanted advice from the Lord would go out to the meeting tent outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand at the entrance to their tents and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the column of cloud would come down and stand at the tent’s entrance while the Lord talked with Moses. When all the people saw the column of cloud standing at the tent’s entrance, they would all rise and then bow down at the entrances to their tents. In this way the Lord used to speak to Moses face-to-face, like two people talking to each other. Then Moses would come back to the camp. But his young assistant Joshua, Nun’s son, wouldn’t leave the tent.

Moses said to the Lord, “Look, you’ve been telling me, ‘Lead these people forward.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. Yet you’ve assured me, ‘I know you by name and think highly of you.’ Now if you do think highly of me, show me your ways so that I may know you and so that you may really approve of me. Remember too that this nation is your people.”

The Lord replied, “I’ll go myself, and I’ll help you.”

Moses replied, “If you won’t go yourself, don’t make us leave here. Because how will anyone know that we have your special approval, both I and your people, unless you go with us? Only that distinguishes us, me and your people, from every other people on the earth.”

The Lord said to Moses, “I’ll do exactly what you’ve asked because you have my special approval, and I know you by name.”

Moses said, “Please show me your glorious presence.”

The Lord said, “I’ll make all my goodness pass in front of you, and I’ll proclaim before you the name, ‘The Lord.’ I will be kind to whomever I wish to be kind, and I will have compassion to whomever I wish to be compassionate. But,” the Lord said, “you can’t see my face because no one can see me and live.” The Lord said, “Here is a place near me where you will stand beside the rock. As my glorious presence passes by, I’ll set you in a gap in the rock, and I’ll cover you with my hand until I’ve passed by. Then I’ll take away my hand, and you will see my back, but my face won’t be visible.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament readingLuke 3:15-22

The people were filled with expectation, and everyone wondered whether John might be the Christ. John replied to them all, “I baptize you with water, but the one who is more powerful than me is coming. I’m not worthy to loosen the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. The shovel he uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in his hands. He will clean out his threshing area and bring the wheat into his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that can’t be put out.” With many other words John appealed to them, proclaiming good news to the people.

But Herod the ruler had been criticized harshly by John because of Herodias, Herod’s brother’s wife, and because of all the evil he had done. He added this to the list of his evil deeds: he locked John up in prison.

When everyone was being baptized, Jesus also was baptized. While he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit came down on him in bodily form like a dove. And there was a voice from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.”

Silence may be kept.

Gospel canticleThe Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Refrain:The Lord is risen from the tombwho for our sakes hung upon the tree. Alleluia.

Bless the Lord God of Israelbecause he has come to help and has delivered his people.He has raised up a mighty savior for us in his servant David’s house,just as he said through the mouths of his holy prophets long ago.He has brought salvation from our enemiesand from the power of all those who hate us.He has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,and remembered his holy covenant,the solemn pledge he made to our ancestor Abraham.He has granted that we would be rescuedfrom the power of our enemiesso that we could serve him without fear,in holiness and righteousness in God’s eyes,for as long as we live.You, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.You will tell his people how to be savedthrough the forgiveness of their sins.Because of our God’s deep compassion,the dawn from heaven will break upon us,to give light to those who are sitting in darknessand in the shadow of death,to guide us on the path of peace.”

Luke 1:68-79

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:The Lord is risen from the tombwho for our sakes hung upon the tree. Alleluia.

Brief silence.

The Apostle’s Creed

Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried;he descended to the dead.On the third day he rose again;he ascended into heaven,is seated at the right hand of the Father,and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,the holy catholic church,the communion of saints,the forgiveness of sins,the resurrection of the body,and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers

Intercession and thanksgiving

Prayers are offeredfor the day and its tasksfor the world and its needsfor the Church and her life

Response

In faith we prayWe pray to you, our God.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Almighty God,whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life:raise us, who trust in him, from the death of sin to the life of righteousness,that we may seek those things which are above,where he reigns with youin the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Rejoicing in God’s new creation,as our Savior taught us, so we pray

Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,your kingdom come,your will be done,on earth as in heaven.Give us today our daily bread.Forgive us our sinsas we forgive those who sin against us.Lead us not into temptationbut deliver us from evil.For the kingdom, the power,and the glory are yoursnow and forever.Amen.